Castle and Zombies and Beckett, Oh My!

 "Undead Again", Season 4 Episode 22

Tonight's 'Castle' gave us something we haven't had in weeks: hope.

During the last several episodes (read my recaps HERE and HERE) Castle has been pulling further and further away from Beckett, and she has been too hurt to do anything about it. To refresh your memory, it all started when Castle overheard Beckett say that she remembered everything about her shooting that happened at the end of last season. This wouldn't be a big deal, except that Castle told her he loved her, and for the past 21 episodes Beckett has been pretending she didn't hear it. When Castle realized that she had heard it, he assumed she had ignored it because she didn't feel the same way. Since he had been going for weeks on the assumption that she returned his feelings, but wasn't "ready yet", this stung a bit. And so, he decided that last night's case would be their last one together. Ever.

And it was a doozy. At first, it seemed like they were dealing with a rather simple murder. A trader was murdered at 4 am in a parking structure, and everything pointed to his disgruntled co-worker who had been turned down for a promotion. Everything, that is, until said co-worker was found chained in his apartment, ranting that zombies had killed the trader.

Castle rather typically immediately latched onto this. Zombies! Something he could talk about endlessly. And Castle is always at his best when the murder leads to oddball theories. He told his mother that he'd decided that this would be his last hurrah, and he was thrilled that it was an interesting case. He admitted to Beckett that he was glad it wasn't a boring one, and also told the medical examiner (sarcastically) that he would "treasure these special moments [they'd] shared"--this definitely made Beckett suspicious that something was going on, but due to the tense relationship they've had during the past several weeks, she didn't ask him anything.

It wasn't just the co-worker's words that made them suspect zombies, it was security camera footage that Ryan found. It showed a zombie going after the man. As the gang stood around discussing this probability Espositio told Castle it was good to see that he and Beckett were getting along again. In reality, it was because he had decided it was his last case, and that he would be leaving, that Castle was acting so friendly with everyone (even Beckett). His mother's statement earlier in the episode, that he had been flaunting women around just to punish Beckett, also got to him. Beckett certainly recognized that he was more like his old self, it would be hard not to since he was back to his usual schoolyard teasing ways. When Ryan asked him if he really believed in zombies, he admitted that he didn't, but he loved to tell Beckett that he did.

They found out that the murdered man had texted a woman the night that he died. When they questioned her, she admitted that she used to date him, but that she was now engaged to a law student. She had briefly cheated on her fiancé with the man, but once her fiancé found out she had broken it off. The trader wouldn't take no for an answer and kept texting her. This, of course, made them immediately suspect the law student, but it turned out he had an airtight alibi. He had been studying in the library during the exact hours of the murder.


By tracking where the murdered man had been that night, Beckett and Castle went to examine an abandoned warehouse. While they were there they were suddenly surrounded by zombies! Beckett pulled out her gun, but Castle pointed out it wouldn't be enough to kill them all. Caught up in the moment, they both panicked. Castle, proving that he still cared about Beckett more than he wanted to admit, yelled at her to get behind him. It was this order that made Beckett realize how absurd the whole situation was, and she immediately yelled "NYPD". The zombies all stopped being zombies, and turned into normal people. They admitted that they were doing some event called 'zombie walking', where they pretended to be zombies, and chased the 'normals'. Beckett ordered them all to the precinct for questioning.


They talked to a lot of the zombies, including some who were clearly high on drugs. After showing the picture of the zombie in question to all of them, one guy finally identified him as Kyle. But when Ryan and Espositio burst into Kyle's apartment, he was dead. And still decked out in zombie makeup. The paramedics brought him to the morgue, and Beckett and Castle showed up to the attend the autopsy. Castle tentatively asked the medical examiner if it was possible the guy really had been a zombie, and right as Beckett was telling him not to be absurd, the medical examiner cut into Kyle and he woke up. He jumped off the table and ran away, and Beckett chased him down the hall, screaming at Castle to call for backup. 


But Kyle wasn't really a zombie, it turned out he had been given high doses of a drug similar to a roofie. Except, with this drug the person stays conscious and becomes highly suggestible. It is actually known as the 'zombie drug'. As the drug leaves their system they lose all memory of what has taken place and can even go into a coma. This is what happened to Kyle.


Beckett remembers that some of the 'zombies' they questioned were high, and she brings one in for questioning. He admits their dealer is the law school student. Beckett realizes that he dosed Kyle and told him to kill the trader. She tells Castle she's afraid that it's the perfect crime. and he assures her there is no such thing. 


Because it's Castle, he comes up with a perfect plan. They trick the law school student into thinking both he and Kyle have been released. They then put Kyle's make-up on Castle, and he 'attacks' the law student, causing him to admit everything. 


Kyle is released from jail, and Beckett tells him the DA may not even press charges. He was completely manipulated by the law school student. After Kyle leaves, Castle tells Beckett he doesn't know how Kyle will ever get over it--you don't forget really tragic events. Beckett's eyes widen slightly, as though she realizes that Castle knows she has a memory of what happened during her shooting. She tells him, clearly talking about herself as much as Kyle, that it will be very hard, but that with therapy he will learn to live with it. Castle admits that he didn't realize that she was in therapy, and she tells him she didn't want anyone to know, she just wanted to do what she had to and then move on. She also admits that she is almost ready to deal with everything that happened that day. She then pauses, looks Castle right in the eye, and states "everything". Clearly she is talking about his statement of love, and they both know it, although nothing is said directly. Castle says he hopes that's true. Beckett then asks him, showing that she realizes his behavior has been slightly suspicious that day, if he will be in again tomorrow. And he promises he will.

The episode ends with that--a promise of a tomorrow, and a conversation (however much was left unsaid) that insinuates a reconciliation between Castle and Beckett. 

SPOILERS

The promo for next week's season finale suggests that Castle and Beckett will finally get even closer! The episode is titled 'Always', and it will finally deal again with Beckett's mother's murder. This is the one secret that Castle is still keeping from Beckett. He promised unknown forces that he would stop Beckett from investigating and that in return they would let her live. She doesn't know any of this, and if she did, the secret would surely tear them apart again. In the next episode, Beckett will learn what Castle was keeping from her. Beckett will quite the police force to investigate on her own. And we will have another declaration of love on Castle's part, as well as the possibility of them finally getting together. At the very least, I think we can finally expect a kiss. See if I'm right next week. 'Castle' airs on Mondays at 10/9C on ABC.

We've never had a real kiss--the closest we got was S3Ep13. Is it time now?